Movie Review

The idea of romantic love goes under the microscope in far-out Fingernails

The concept of love is an ineffable thing, especially between romantic partners. While movies have spent plenty of time exploring love, it’s difficult to say they get it “right” because no two situations are ever the same. The new Apple TV+ film Fingernails delves into the subject in a unique way, one that may have some couples questioning their own bonds.

Anna (Jessie Buckley) is in a steady-if-unexciting relationship with Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), but one that has been verified by science, as they have submitted themselves to a test using new technology that confirms that they truly are in love. While they believe in the test, others are skeptical of its accuracy and refuse to take it, perhaps out of fear that it would come back negative.

Anna, looking for something new in her life, applies for a job at the institute that administers the test, a fact she hides from Ryan. She’s paired up with Amir (Riz Ahmed) to work with various couples to test their compatibility. Unfortunately – or fortunately? – she finds herself slowing falling for Amir, causing her to question the infallibility of the test and who she should actually be with.

Written and directed by Christos Nikou, and co-written by Sam Steiner and Stavros Raptis, the film is an interesting exploration of what it means to be in love wrapped in a slightly sci-fi concept. The idea that any kind of computer test could verify a couple’s love seems implausible, and there are times when the company, led by the harried Duncan (Luke Wilson), comes off as a one big scam.

Still, a lot of people buy into it, especially Anna and Amir, and the type of methods they use on couples sells that belief, including things like electroshock and tandem skydiving. But it’s the actual test that takes the most faith, and it’s here where the title of the film comes in. Suffice it to say that both members of a couple must make a sacrifice to prove their love for one another, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

However, if you remove the far-out parts, the story is one seen many times before. One partner, Anna, longs for a freshness in her relationship, while the other, Ryan, is comfortable and doesn’t see a need to change what doesn’t seem to be broken. Amir not only offers something new for Anna, but seems to share a more open-minded approach in general. The added element of the test merely heightens her need to get to the bottom of her feelings.

Buckley has been a bit of a chameleon in her career, but she always manages to give her characters lots of heart. She makes Anna into someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, and it’s a wild ride of her emotions. Ahmed is a similarly empathetic actor, and he makes for a great complement to Buckley. White has an intensity, recently seen on FX’s The Bear, that’s softened here, but just enough so as not to make him seem like a complete jerk.

It’s difficult to believe that many people would go to the lengths the characters in Fingernails do to find out if they’re compatible with their partners, but watching others do it makes for a compelling watch. It’s also a warning that too much questioning about the nature of love can cause damage to one’s soul.

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed in Fingernails.

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Fingernails is now streaming on Apple TV+

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Movie Review

Spine-chilling new horror movie Undertone puts podcaster in jeopardy

Photo courtsy of A24

Nina Kiri in Undertone.

While the horror genre is still capable of producing some innovative filmmaking, most of the output tends to fall back on jump scares and other tropes to deliver their terror. So when a film like the new Undertone tries something different, it should be applauded for the effort, even if it’s not as successful in its execution.

Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcaster who co-hosts a show called Undertone, which focuses on paranormal videos and sounds they find on the internet. Her co-host, Justin (Adam DiMarco), lives in London, so — for kind of contrived reasons — in order to make the time difference between them work, Evy records at around 3 am her time. Evy — who lives at home with her bedridden, dying mother — is the skeptic of the two, consistently debunking clips that Justin presents to her.

Her doubts are tested when Justin brings in a series of 10 audio clips that purport to be about a boyfriend recording his girlfriend as she talks in her sleep. The audio begins in a lighthearted manner and quickly turns creepy and then sinister as unexplained things start happening. Evy senses that what she’s hearing is bleeding into her own world, especially when inexplicable actions take place in her mother’s bedroom.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ian Tuason, the film is effective early on when it introduces the story concept. Making great use of sound design, Tuason essentially puts the audience inside Evy’s head, where every little sound is heightened. Setting the podcast sessions in the middle of the night ups the anxiety level for both her and the audience.

However, as the film goes along it gets a little tedious watching Evy listen to the audio, even as Tuason attempts to keep the film dynamic by moving the camera around her. The premise of the story — progressively going through 10 clips — and Tuason’s framing of shots that focus as much on the background as they do on Evy seem to promise more interesting results than actually transpire.

What ultimately holds the film down more than anything is its lack of different viewpoints. The only other person who’s actually seen is Evy’s mother, who is unable to speak. Evy speaks to Justin, another friend, and a doctor over the course of the story, and while each broadens our understanding of Evy somewhat, none of them make her a truly three-dimensional person. Getting a little more information about her history might have helped the story work better.

Kiri does her level best to vary her acting in the various podcast scenes, and even when they start to get repetitive, she remains compelling and watchable. It’s difficult to judge the other actors based on audio alone, but knowing that DiMarco also starred in season 2 of The White Lotus helps to visualize him and his acting style.

Undertone does well in creating a spine-chilling mood, but it needed something beyond that to become a truly great horror movie. Tuason shows some promise as a filmmaker, especially in the way he uses the camera to create tension, but a more complete story will serve him better the next time around.

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Undertone is now playing in theaters,

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